The repository of one hard-boiled egg from the south suburbs of Milwaukee, Wisconsin (and the occassional guest-blogger). The ramblings within may or may not offend, shock and awe you, but they are what I (or my guest-bloggers) think.

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Archive for the 'NRE Polls' Category

October 31, 2013

I quietly put this poll up at the beginning of the month, when the Packers were both stinking up the joint and having players carted off the field on a weekly basis. They fixed the latter immediately afterward, and finally stopped the physical bleeding to take sole possession (by a half-game and, at the moment, a tiebreaker) over Detroit.

As things stand now, the Packers are in first at 5-2 with one win each over the Vikings and Lions (a second game against each is upcoming), and the first of the two division games against Duh Bears coming up on Monday Night Football, the Lions are 5-3 with one win each over the Bears and Vikings and a loss against the Packers, the Bears are 4-3 with a win against the Vikings and a loss against the Lions, and the Vikings are 1-6 with a loss to each of the other NFC North teams (sorry, Shoe; maybe you could buy the team and really create a conflict of interest for the blog ;-)

I’m not asking how many wins the eventual winner of the NFC North will have, I’m asking how many wins it will take to take the division. You have about 11 hours from the posting of this to put your guesses in.

September 1, 2011

In case you’ve been in a cave the last 24 hours, President Obama tried and failed to upstage a long-scheduled GOP Presidential debate by scheduling a speech before a joint session of Congress for 7 pm (all times Central as that’s where I am) September 7, which “just happened” to be the precise date and time said debate is to start over on MSNBC. After House Speaker John Boehner, citing logistical issues with House votes scheduled for 5:30 pm 9/7 and a claimed 3-hour requirement for a security sweep to “sanitize” the House chamber, suggested the following day, the White House jumped at that.

The new date of September 8, however, poses, at least potentially, a different conflict – one with the start of the NFL season, with the 13-time (and defending) World Champion Green Bay Packers hosting the New Orleans Saints. NBC, which is to carry the game starting at 7:30 pm, also has a 1-hour pregame scheduled for 6:30 pm. As of roughly a half-hour ago, CBS White House correspondent Mark Knoller reported that, while the start time of the speech had not been finalized, it would be done before the 7:30 pm kickoff. Earlier reports had widely speculated that the speech would begin at 6:30 pm.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported, before it became clear (or at least as clear as the White House gets) that the speech would be done before kickoff, that Steve Wexler, vice president of radio and TV operations for Journal Broadcast Group, had Milwaukee’s NBC affiliate, WTMJ-TV, request that, in the event there was a conflict between the game itself and the speech, NBC make both feeds available to the NBC affiliates and that they be allowed to choose which feed to air where, and that WTMJ, if given the choice, would air the game on the main channel and the debate on a digital subchannel.

There hasn’t been any discussion regarding a potential pre-game conflict, which opens up the door for an NRE Poll. Do note that I am NOT asking what you would rather watch, or even what feed you would like seen on what part of the broadcast spectrum controlled by your local NBC affiliate. With that in mind, have at it.

What should NBC do with the NFL opener pre-game and the Obama jobs speech?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

Bin the speech, tell the White House that they're just one network of many and that their cable news channel MSNBC is covering it anyway. (63%, 38 Vote(s))

Offer both to the local affiliates, let all of them choose what to air on what channel. (33%, 20 Vote(s))

Bin the pre-game and tell the NFL that they're just not that important. (3%, 2 Vote(s))

Offer both to the local affiliates, let the affiliates in the Packers and Saints markets choose what to air on what channel, force the rest to air the speech on the main channel. (0%, 0 Vote(s))

April 20, 2011

Since JoAnne Kloppenburg has asked for a recount, and strongly hinted that she would pursue a post-recount judicial appeal if she doesn’t somehow overcome a 7,316-vote deficit, it’s time to fire up the NRE Polls once again. If you’re wondering why the answers are presented in the order I presented them, they are, in my humble opinion, in decreasing lprobability.

When will the Prosser victory over Kloppenburg be made official?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

By hook and by crook, Kloppenburg will be declared the winner (34%, 37 Vote(s))

When a federal district court smacks down the state-level kangaroo court and the higher federal courts uphold (4%, 4 Vote(s))

When the state 4th District Court of Appeals smacks down the state-level kangaroo court (4%, 4 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 110

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Revisions/extensions (6:32 pm 4/20/2011) - If you’re wondering why I don’t have the Wisconsin Supreme Court included in the poll, while the state-level appeal would eventually end up there, it would be before a 3-3 divided court due to either Prosser recusing himself as he would be a party to the suit or Prosser’s seat being vacant after July 31. If you doubt that the result would be a 3-3 split, just look at the liberals’ attempt to toss Justice Michael Gabelman after he ousted “Loophole” Louis Butler (who, ironically, is likely going to be the reserve judge Lawgiver-In-Black chosen by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to all-but-certainly deliver the outcome Abrahamson and her former clerk Kloppenburg have a vested interest in).

December 29, 2010

Noted slumlord and abuser of fellow Milwaukee County Supervisors Lee Holloway is now acting Milwaukee County Executive, and he hasn’t disappointed those who expected new lows to be set. Despite the 30-day tag on his rule (or at least this stage of his rule), he wasn’t satisfied with just one judge administering the oath of office, inviting disgraced former County Executive F.(U.) Thomas Ament (the guy who signed into law the multi-million-dollar pension grab in 2000 that, when it finally came to light in 2002, cost him and several supervisors their jobs in recall elections) to the ceremony as an honored friend, or summarily firing the housing director (highly ironic since Holloway and his wife are facing legal action from the city of Milwaukee for numerous code violatoins on rental property they own), or laying out a massive tax-and-spend agenda that will by necessity take far more than either the 30 days he has before he has to name an “interim” County Exec (most-likely himself because he temporarily gave up the Board Chairmanship) or the 3 1/2 months before an elected replacement takes office (yes, he’s running). The latest is the revelation that he assembled a 32-member transition team.

Revisions/extensions (7:03 am 12/30/2010) – In the 5 o’clock hour, WISN-AM’s Jerry Bott and Ken Herrera pointed out that, in Holloway’s announcement that he was running for the remainder of the term, he used street putdowns on his potential challengers, conservative and ultra-liberal alike. Since nobody hit the poll yet, I simply added it to the poll.

I guess it’s time for a new NRE Poll…

What is the most outrageous aspect of Lee Holloway's assumption of the powers of Milwaukee County Executive?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

Despite the city of Milwaukee taking legal action against him for numerous code violations at his rental properties, he fired the county housing director. (38%, 5 Vote(s))

He invited disgraced former executive F.(U.) Thomas Ament to the swearing-in ceremony as an honored friend. (31%, 4 Vote(s))

Despite the 30-day nature of the "acting" title, he requires 32 people in his transition office. (23%, 3 Vote(s))

He laid out a massive tax-and-spend agenda that will take far longer than the 30 days he has as acting exec or the 3 1/2 months before an elected replacement takes office. (8%, 1 Vote(s))

He needed not one, but two judges to administer the oath. (0%, 0 Vote(s))

He couldn't pass up using street putdowns of all his potential challengers. (0%, 0 Vote(s))

November 18, 2010

Almost completely lost in the shuffle of Government Motors’ IPO is news that GM and the US Treasury agreed to allow GM to buy back the $2.1 billion in preferred stock owned by the Treasury 4 years early at a 2% premium over the liquidation price. That is to be done shortly after GM sells $4.35 billion in new-issue preferred stock to be traded publicly.

Back when the Treasury set up Government Motors as a post-bankruptcy entity, in addition to the 61% stake it took in the common stock of the company, it also took $2.1 billion in perpetual prefered stock that paid an all-but-mandatory 9% annual dividend (well, GM could not declare the dividend, but it would have to make good before it either paid a dividend on any other class of stock or bought back the preferred stock). The Canadian government took a smaller piece of this preferred stock, and the UAW took the lion’s share to help fund the VEBA. One of the restrictions the Treasury put on GM was that it could not buy back this stock before the end of 2014.

Suddenly, on October 27, just a couple weeks before the IPO, GM and the Treasury agreed that, instead of forcing GM to wait until the end of 2014 to buy back the $2.1 billion in preferred stock and pay out $802 million in dividends between now and then, they would let GM get out of it now at a 2% premium on that $2.1 billion price (or a $41 million premium). There are two explanations I can think of for why the Treasury would give up an all-but-guaranteed $755 million over the next 4 years for $41 million now:

By eliminating its first claim on $189 million/year from GM, it believes it will get more from common stock sales than the $761 million it’s giving up from the preferred stock. One of the big knocks on GM is that it is indeed Government Motors. By no longer demanding $189 million per year before anybody else not named government or the UAW gets a taste of the profits (which is what a dividend on common stock is) and demonstrating that once the last of the common stock is out of the Treasury, the government is out of GM, the hope is that investors will actually believe that it isn’t Government Motors. Given that the IPO price jumped from $25/share to $33/share, it isn’t an unreasonable expectation.

The Treasury isn’t hopeful that GM will survive for very long. Even though preferred stock is senior to common stock, and indeed the government/UAW issue preferred stock is senior to the private-issue preferred stock that should be hitting the open market in a few days, it is still junior to all debt. Tom Blumer noted that dealer inventories have been “gamed” in advance of the IPO to make GM appear to be more profitable than it is. Under this line of thinking, getting $2.14 billion now is better than perhaps not getting even $802 million (much less not getting $2.9 billion) over the next 4 years.

Okay, folks – have at it. Which is it, one, the other, both, or did I just bore the living hell out of you?

Why did the Treasury sell its GM preferred shares early?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

Both, boss. (60%, 9 Vote(s))

By eliminating its first claim on $189 million/year from GM, it believes it will get more from common stock sales than the $761 million it's giving up from the preferred stock. (20%, 3 Vote(s))

I have no clue. (13%, 2 Vote(s))

The Treasury isn't hopeful that GM will survive for very long. (7%, 1 Vote(s))

I can’t promise to abide by the vote if it’s either close or sparsely voted upon, but the best way to make sure I do so is to vote for your favorite and get your friends to do the same. I’ll leave this up until the wee hours of October 13th, so you have some time to get them in line.

One side note – sorry to disappoint those of you who wanted the fedora as my Twitter icon, but the nuke is staying for a while thanks to Matt Kenseth self-destructing yesterday.

Revisions/extensions (3:27 pm 9/27/2010) -You’re not dealing with the Milwaukee Election Commission, the Government “Accountability” Board, or Chicago election officials here. I’ve already had to wipe out 4 “votes” that came from somebody who had already voted. No, I won’t tell you how I know the system was gamed.

The polls close an hour before the real polls Tuesday, so vote early This isn’t Chicago, so don’t try to vote often.

Which pic should be my Twitter icon?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

The Fedora (79%, 15 Vote(s))

The Nuked Twitter icon (the current one) (21%, 4 Vote(s))

Total Voters: 19

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Revisions/extensions (9:59 am CDT 9/10/2010) - I just realized that one of the ways the polling widget keeps people from voting multiple times is blocking additional votes from those here at BlogCon. Sorry about that; just put it in the comments and I’ll manually add it in the results.

July 14, 2010

As someone once said, all politics and no fun makes Egg a very dull boy. Since I merely want to be known as a dull boy, it’s time for a spiral. The Packers open up training camp in 17 days, so it’s time to start focusing on the NFL.

Unless you’ve been in a cave the last 2 years, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has been looking at expanding the NFL season. Originally, he wanted to get it done in time for 2011 and the scheduled start of the new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players’ Association, but the clock has slid both that plan and the odds of an on-time new CBA back.

Originally, the thought was to add a single game, possibly at neutral sites, and likely a few outside the US if they went to neutral sites. That has morphed into converting 2 of the 4-5 preseason games into 2 additional regular-season games.

In addition to the injury angle that the NFLPA and some others have noted, that would make a hash of the “perfect” schedule the NFL put together when they went to 32 teams. Right now, each team plays its 3 division rivals in a home-and-home series, the 4 teams from a different division of the same conference, the 4 teams from a division in the other conference, and the 2 teams they otherwise wouldn’t play that finished in the same place in their division the previous year (the “parity” conference games). In fact, those who know how to read the standings, break ties, and remember previous seasons’ schedules know who their team is playing, and for 14 of those games, where, the moment the final gun goes off in the last regular-season game, with only the dates to be filled in.

A single added game would throw the entirety of that picture out of balance. Adding 2 games would, if schedule harmony were to be preserved, necessitate the elimination of the “parity” conference games in favor of playing a third division in either conference. Adding 3 games, which could be accomplished either by adding a third division in a team’s conference or adding “parity” non-conference games, would certainly seem make for a too-long season.

Since most of you who read this place are football fans (or at least I hope you are), it’s time to toss it out to the readership. Unlike Chicago and locations with court-ordered one-man/many-vote situations, vote early and vote once, because the poll closes at noon July 31.

June 7, 2010

I’m not at all promising to abide by the results of this poll, but it’s been a while since I discontinued the daily linkfest known as The Morning Scramble. With something north of 400 blogs I at least try to read, I just couldn’t keep up with it. Another reason of the dropping was it has become harder to find embeddable songs from YouTube (oh well; the free music party couldn’t last forever).

Oh well, since I’m starting to run out of steam to do my own posts, I might try to bring it back. That’s where this little poll comes in.

March 1, 2010

There’s a new twist in the All My Thompsons saga – Poltico is reporting that Tommy Thompson has told his Washington-based law firm and key clients that he might indeed challenge Russ Feingold for his Senate seat this year. His former campaign manager, Bill McCoshen, told Politico that Thompson’s moves toward running are “more thoughtful and more deliberate” than those taken at any point since he departed the governor’s mansion in 2001.

Meanwhile, an anonymous ally, who says that Thompson would have at least $200,000 in donations waiting for him once he jumped in, says that it is now 70-30 that he jumps in, noting that Thompson has been asking operational questions in recent weeks.

On the other hand, his wife, Sue Ann, recently told Madison Magazine that she’s discouraging Tommy from running. Also, Thomspon has a few black marks, including being on record as supporting the Senate version of PlaceboCare.

Side note from the story – Milwaukee County Democratic Party chair Sachin Chheda noted that support would hurt Thompson in any election.

Also, I note that $200,000 isn’t exactly going to cut it in the money race. Feingold had over $3.6 million in the bank at the end of last year, and Terrence Wall, the more-moneyed of the two announced Republican challengers, raised about $240,000 not including loans to himself in his first 7 weeks.

Still, there’s the Rasmussen polls over the last 2 months that gave Thompson a margin-of-error lead over Feingold (while Feingold maintained a double-margin-of-error lead over both Wall and Dave Westlake), and the name recognition that Thompson still enjoys in Wisconsin.

The consensus in Wisconsin, from Kevin to Mary at Freedom Eden to Brad V at Letters in Bottles is that Thompson needs to make a decision soon, sooner than during the late-May GOP convention that was floated in the Politico article. Beyond the time aspect, which Wall and Westlake desperately need to get known, there’s the money aspect. If those with deep pockets (or at least deeper pockets than my empty ones) don’t know whether Thompson will or will not jump in until late-May, the cash that could have gone into this race will likely end up elsewhere.

I suppose I should fire up the polls on this one. While I didn’t include an expiration date on the poll, I will close it before the GOP convention if Thompson still hasn’t announced one way or the other.

January 25, 2010

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so the liver is recovered enough. The question is, has the sanity recovered? That’s where I need your help – do I break out the liquor and drunkblog Obama’s Shut The Fuc…er, State Of The Union speech or not?

Do vote quickly – the polls close at 17:00 Central (that’s 5 pm for those of you who can’t convert from a 24-hour clock).

December 7, 2009

The Senate held a rare Sunday session, ostensibly to work on PlaceboCare. However, Politico has the scoop on what really went on behind closed doors – the Dems were jonesing on Chinese food while watching football. What, Mr. Days is too public for them?

Seriously, the main focus of that story was on the declining support for a “pure” public option, with a public-private “compromise” beginning to emerge. Guess it’s as good a time as any to put up a poll suggested by Shoebox…

What will be the final issue to split the Dems' support for PlaceboCare?

October 5, 2009

It is the Battle of the Mississippi River, Part I tonight, as the Minnesota Vikings storm Lambeau Field to take on the Green Bay PackersPackers storm the Metrodome to take on the Vikings. First place in the NFC North will be on the line.

August 17, 2009

Now that the non-candidacy of Gov. Jim Doyle is (all-but-)official (pending just a statement of non-candidacy filed with the Government Accountability Board), it’s time to ask when he will actually give up the office. Somehow, I doubt that he will stick around all the way until 1/3/2011, when the term is actually up.

When will Jim Doyle depart the governor's mansion for the last time?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

1/3/2011 (the day the term expires) (66%, 21 Vote(s))

After the 2010 primary election but before the 2010 general election (11/2/2010) (16%, 5 Vote(s))

Before the 2010 primary election (9/14/2010) (13%, 4 Vote(s))

After the 2010 general election but before 1/3/2011 (the day the term expires) (6%, 2 Vote(s))

June 14, 2009

Due to an error with WP-Polls 2.5 and WordPress 2.8, I’ve temporarily disabled WP-Polls. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Revisions/extensions (10:08 am 6/14/2009) -Lester Chan was very quick in offering a fix, but it turned out the ultimate problem is with WordPress’ plugin editor function. In any case, polls are back.

R&E part 2 (12:44 pm 6/15/2009) - Had a nagging bug with the dark-gray bar displaying on the second poll question as the method of displaying multiple polls changed from a WP-Polls method to using multiple widgets. Lester got it 3/4ths of the way there, but that caused me to lose all the widgets below the polls. Finally found the problem, and got that 100% squashed.

May 12, 2009

The original concept started with Jessi Olson back when oil was at $140/barrel and gasoline was over $4/gallon

Even though the economy shows very few signs of restarting, the price of oil is back up over $60/barrel after hitting a low of nearly $35/barrel, and gasoline in Milwaukee is already tickling $2.60/gallon after a couple months of being well below $2/gallon. Somehow, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that in that time frame, the Democrats in Congress and the Obama administration have restored every last roadblock to oil exploration and exploitation that resulted in the record prices last summer.

With that in mind, I’ve started up a new poll. It’s rather simple – when will gas prices in Milwaukee lead with a “1” again?

When will the number 1 once again lead the price of regular unleaded gasoline in Milwaukee?

April 28, 2009

With the news that GM, the parent company of Chevrolet, is seeking a government takeover, the Car and Driver April Fool’s Day joke about the Obama Administration forcing them (and Chrysler) out of NASCAR is quite a bit closer to reality. With that in mind, it’s time for another NRE poll, focusing on the official team of NASCAR, Hendrick Motorsports.

I’ll leave it to your discretion on whether to count a Chevy Impala with all the badges removed as a non-factory-sponsored Chevy or “something else”. The cars IROC ran in their last couple years of existence were Pontiac Trans Ams, but since GM stopped making them (and ultimately pulled Pontiac out of motorsports), they bore no GM badges.

What will the official team of NASCAR (Hendrick Motorsports) be driving next year?

April 7, 2009

With President Obama prostrating himself to whatever rival demands it, I figure it’s time for a new poll. With Vice President Joe Biden’s 30-year-long love of Iran’s Mad Mullahs, Iran is sure to be on the ObamiNation Kow-Tow Tour. The question is, how deep will the bow be?

How deep will Obama bow to Iran's Mad Mullahs when he meets them?

Up to 1 answer(s) was/were allowed

Let the face hit the floor (61%, 23 Vote(s))

As deep as the bow to the Protector of the Two "Holy" Mosques (21%, 8 Vote(s))

March 22, 2009

I’ll start with the bad news on the bracket first. I went 4-4 on today’s games, losing my 1-8 upset special as Oklahoma State couldn’t quite get the job done against Pitt (which made my still-open 1st-round semi-scientific wild-assed guess 67% wrong). I also can’t show in the AoSHQ tourney (down to a potential best of 5th with 153 points) thanks to the Cowboy choke. Further, both Wisconsin and Marquette (who I had going out in the 1st) bowed out today. Finally, statistical analysis proved no better than SSWAG, as I am not missing 9 of the Sweet 16, 4 of the Elite 8, or 2 of the Final Four.

Now, the good. That was my only miss among the 11 games that didn’t die in the first round, and I had OSU not going past the Sweet 16. I’m still just missing the quarter of my Elite and Final brackets I was at the end of the day Friday (damn the Midwest and South brackets).

A bit of housekeeping – the which #1 is out first poll is still open because we still have all four #1s still in it. Do choose wisely as seconds do count. Don’t take the early tentative schedule courtesy Yahoo Sports as the final word (though the days are solid):
– West – UConn and Purdue (5-seed) Thursday at 6:07 pm (first regional semifinal)
– East – Pitt and Xavier (4-seed) Thursday at 6:27 pm (first regional semifinal)
– Midwest – Louisville and Arizona (12-seed) Friday at 6:07 pm (first regional semifinal)
– South – UNC and Gonzaga (4-seed) Friday at approximately 8:57 pm (second regional semifinal)

I did not and will not reset the poll, so if you already voted (especially for UNC, like me), you’re stuck. However, unlike the first two rounds, I will suspend the poll while games involving #1s are being played.

Which #1 will be the first out of the 2009 Big Dance (seconds do count)?

– The Marquette Care Bear…er, Golden Chickens will be able to beat the rush out of Boise tomorrow. Unfortunately, because they’re the nightcap, the Wisconsin Bagders can’t say the same.
– Once again, no #16 seed will win.
– This year’s Cindy is Butler, with Mississippi State being the lowest-seeded 1st-round winner.
– Call me crazy, but I see three Big Ten teams making it out of the first round.
– For those of you participating in the third annual “Which #1 will be knocked out first” poll, I am not calling for a repeat of last year’s all-#1 Final Four. In fact, Pitt and UNC will not make the Sweet 16.

That brings me to the Third Annual Which #1 Will Drop First poll. As always, seconds do count, so pick carefully.

Which #1 will be the first out of the 2009 Big Dance (seconds do count)?

February 24, 2009

Buried in the FY2010/2011 Budget in Brief is a stinker of a table called the “General Fund Condition Under Governor’s Budget”. This year, it’s Table 9, on page 36 of the printed copy (page 39 of the PDF). It projects what the Department of Administration believes the proposed budget will do to the general fund in the biennium, as well as what it projects continuing that budget will do in the next one.

I would like to draw your attention to the “Balances” section of that chart, specfically what the 2011-2013 (FY2012/2013) projected balances are. The gross balance in FY2013 is projected to be -$559,500,000. For those that missed the minus sign, that’s a deficit of $559.5 million. That does not include the “required statutory” positive balance of $130 million, which would make the net deficit $689,500,000.

That is the second time a Doyle budget has admitted that it would short the following biennium budget. That is before the initial agency requests for mo’ money, mo’ money, mo’ money create a multi-billion deficit that supposedly gets filled. Let’s review the history of the Doyle budgets, with the previous budget’s projected surplus/deficit, and the “agency requests” deficit:

“Agency-request” net surplus/(deficit) for FY2005 (from Table 3) – ($966 million) (note: to match up with succeeding budget formats, this does not include FY2003 deficits and adjustments or a decision to increase shared revenue funding, but does include the structural deficit and adjustments to FY2004/2005 revenue)